Yo-yos in the Media
Yo-yos have been around in worldwide culture for over a century so are often seen in the media. This page lists yo-yo appearances on TV, in movies, magazines, video games, newspapers, and so on. Yo-yos on Television Television Comercials ---- Shell Adverts In 2006 the yo-yo was featured on an international Shell advert with the concept of "movement" right through. Both an English version and Portuguese version (from Brazil) were made available. Diet Mountain Dew In Mountain Dew’s yo-yo as a weapon commercial they promote the myth that the yo-yo is a weapon to hilarious ends. There are two versions of this commercial a 30 second cut and a 1 minute version. The known yo-yoers in the episode are Patrick Mitchell, Paul Yath, and Farrah Siegel. (Dew Commercial) Duncan An old Duncan Commercial from the 70's can be viewed on Google video here: Old Duncan commercial Jet Airlines In the Summer of 2008 Jet Airlines has released two new compilation commercials which have yo-yoer Patrick Mitchell in it. The commercials are called “Accordion” and “Kiss”. They both have the same footage in them, with Mitchell being shown two different times. In one clip he is on his back doing two handed shoot the moon then the other he is walking across the screen doing two handed loops and around the world. http://www.expressjet.com/ Jet Airlines website Television Shows ---- Beauty and the Geek On the casting tapes for season two you see one guy try and show how much of a geek he is by doing a split bottom mount then a few seconds later you see him do a frontstyle dismount. Blazing Teens Blazing Teens is an ongoing Chinese live-action series broadcast in several Asian countries. Auldey manufactures and sells Blazing Teens branded yo-yos in those countries. show trailer Classic Hobby Toys Duncan Crew Singapore were on this show back in year 2003. Players such as Andrew Lim, and Hans Wong Jensen can be seen on this video. You can find the video here. Comedy Central The Comedy Central stand-up special for Mitch Hedberg contained this joke. "About once every three years I think about buying a yo-yo... I'll be a the store and I'll come up on the yo-yo section... And I'll fantasize about mastering it... To the point that it becomes a reference as to who I am... Do you know Mitch Hedberg? Is he the guy that kicks ass on the yo-yo? Yes I do. He is cool." Video Here Dave Letterman Show John and Rebecca Higby were featured on the Dave Letterman Show (on CBS) on 20 April 2004. The video is available from their homepage or from yoyoing.com/videos. Detention "Duncan Bubbles," one of the main characters who frequently ends up in detention, never lets his yo-yo out of sight. His Imperial-shaped yo-yo is used to aid the escape from detention in several instances. Ed, Edd and Eddy In the episode "Who, What, Where, Ed" Ed trades Rolf a yo-yo for a bag of plums. Friends On one episode the Duncan logo can be seen on Joey's, a main character, refrigerator. Home Improvement In the 5th season episode, "Her Cheatin' Mind," Jill explains to Tim that her male fantasy is a man who enjoys the same things that she does, such as the opera. She then asks Tim, "What is your female fantasy?" Tim replies, "It involves two twins and a yo-yo." House On some episodes the main character, Dr. House (Hugh Laurie), is seen playing with a yo-yo. Hunter x Hunter In the fourth OVA of the Japanese anime "Hunter X Hunter", one of the main characters Killua Zaoldyeck used two yo-yos as weapons, and each of them weighed 2 tons. Lil' Bush When Lil' Bush was trying to kill his brother, Lil' Jeb is seen holding a yoyo Medium In episode 12 (season 1) which is called A Priest, a Doctor and a Medium Walk into an Execution Chamber, the little boy whose pinky got cut off, is playing with an emerald coloured yo-yo, probably a Duncan Imperial, in front of the infirmary. Martha Stewart Show John Narum and Farrah Siegel were on this show a while back, in January of 2006. They even taught Martha to do 2A worlds! Every one who went to that show got a free YoYoJam Sunset Trajectory! In February 2007, Martha had Lucky Meisenheimer as a guest, who showed off his yo-yo collection. Master of Champions This show pits individuals/groups with different skill sets against each other. The third show featured two yo-yo teams competing against each other. The yo-yoers were - representing the College of the Easily Amused - Doc Pop, Augie Fash and Paul Han vs. Team Texas - Dave Bazan, Miguel Correa and Jesse Garcia. Doc Pop's team 'won' by audience vote. Unfortunately, they did not win the big title. You can see the show here. Maury On December 5th it was an episode entitled: "STOP MY SISTER FROM OVERFEEDING HER 125LB. 4 YEAR OLD!" One of the children was playing with a "Maury Yo-yo" when they came out on stage. Powerpuff Girls Z(Japanese version) Blossom's weapon is a yoyo. She got her powers from chemical Z when it was accidentally released into the town. All the power girls jumped in from of the chemical before it could hit the children it was going toward. The child Blossom saved was playing with a yoyo, which is why Blossom's weapon is a yoyo. watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vbbcDg3aws Recess The Saturday morning Disney cartoon featured a story about yo-yos, "Gertrude and the State of YO" in 1998. This episode introduced the infamous trick "Invisible Man" which yo-yoers are often asked to perform but is actually impossible. tbs STORY|line Mr. Yo-Yo, Bob Rule was featured on tbs STORY|line, along with a visit to the Georgia State Yo-Yo Contest. The video is available on yoyoing.com/videos or directly from tbs STORY|line videos. The Office In the Episode 'Diversity Day', Jim Has a yoyo in his desk The Simpsons *In the episode Bart the Lover, Bart's and Lisa's school (Springfield Elementary) gets caught up in a yo-yo craze. This episode sees a bunch of performers visit their school and do various different tricks, sparking the kids to take up playing with yo-yos. Later Bart plays with a yo-yo during class, breaks the class' fish tank ("Here's a little move I call 'Plucking the pickle' ") and gets yo-yos banned. *In the episode Treehouse of Horror XVII, in the segment titled "You Gotta Know When to Golem," the Golem at one point is sitting on top of Springfield Elementary School, yo-yoing Principal Skinner. *In the season 18 episode Springfield Up, there is a video of young Lenny playing with a yo-yo on the playground at school. *A number of yo-yo tricks are named after words or phrases from Simpsons episodes, such as 'Kwyjibo' and 'Purple Monkey Dishwasher'. The Sopranos In one episode (first or second season) a crack dealer is standing on a corner, playing with a yo-yo. Suite Life of Zack and Cody In the episode "Hotel Inspector" Zack is seen throwing a yo-yo around in an around the world claiming to be studying "Centrifigal Force" and it comes off his finger to go into Mr. Moesby's coffee mug as he is talking to someone. Super Yo-yo An anime show all about Yo-yos. Watch it on YouTube here: Entire series on YouTube Tripping the Rift In Tripping the Rift (Season 2, Episode 4, Ghost Ship), Chody and his crew board a ghost ship. While waiting for a gold coin to fall down a shaft, Chode is seen playing with a yo-yo to pass the time. In this sci-fi comedy series, Chode, a three-eyed, purple alien with green spots, plays the lead role as the captain of the smuggling spaceship. The clip can be viewed on yoyoing.com/videos. VH1 The yo-yo was featured in the VH1 special [http://www.yoyoing.com/videos/play.php?vid=1237 I love toys]. Footage was from How To Be a Player, the World Yo-Yo Contest and the 1998 National yo-yo contest. Yu Yu Hakusho During the Dark Tournament one of the main characters, Kuwabara, faces a demon kid, Rinku, who uses yo-yos as weapons. Xiaolin Showdown The two Sheng Gong Wu the Ying and Yang Yo-yos are used to go in the Ying Yang World Yo-yos in the Movies BEE Movie (DreamWorks 2007) During the seen near the end of the movie (11346) Barry the Bee is giving a motivational speech as his airplane crashes and then it flashs to a seen of three “Pollen Jocks” sitting around a table, one is playing with a yo-yo. Bruce Almighty (Universal Pictures 2003) On the DVD cover, the world is a yo-yo. Canonball Run 2 (Golden Harvest Company 1984) In this movie the Smothers Brothers (Tommy Smothers) always had his looper. Child's Play 3 (Universal 1991) Chucky (Voiced by Brad Dourif) Chokes a guy with a yo-yo. Der Wixxer (Falcom Media 2004) In the German parody film Der Wixxer the inspector is a yo-yo player and uses his yo-yo as a weapon to catch a bad guy. Movie database link Dragnet (Universal 1987) Kip Striebeck (Tom Hanks) fumbles with a yo-yo by a fountain in one scene. Ernest Goes to Africa (Action Entertainment 1997) There's a mix up involving stolen diamonds which Ernest (Jim Varney) made into a yo-yo(made by Brad Countryman for the film) and gives it to his would be girlfriend, Rene(Linda Kash). After the bad guys come looking for the stolen diamonds and kidnap Rene, all of her fantasies come true as Ernest has to go to Africa to rescue her. Fantasia 2000 (Walt Disney studios 1999) A segment in this Disney film explores the relationship between man and nature, or : what happens when you give a yo-yo to a flamingo? Set to classical music by Camille Saint-Saens. Goodburger (Nickelodeon films 1997) Dexter (Keenan Thompson) tells Ed (Kell Mitchell) about a light up yo-yo that his father gave him as a small child, Later on in the film Ed gives Dexter a yo-yo as a sign of friendship Grease (Paramount 1978) As the Pink Ladies walk through the school yard, a guy can be seen playing with a yo-yo in the background. James Bond: Octopussy (MGM 1983) One of the bad guys positioned atop a balcony uses a giant yo-yo constructed of two giant saw blades in attempt to kill James Bond on the bed below. Kalifornia (Polygram 1993) Early Grayce (Brad Pitt) gives his ditzy girlfriend Adele (Juliette Lewis) a yo-yo to keep her occupied. She plays with it throughout the film. Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (Mandate Pictures 2007) When the account-mutant arrives at the toy store, and is talking to Mahoney, a kid walks by in the background while yo-yoing. When the store has a "temper tantrum", Aidan Orange, a yo-yoer and contortionist runs by the camera with his arms and YoYoJam yo-yos wrapped around his head, yelling: "Somebody give me a hand!". School of Rock (Paramount Pictures 2003) There is a yo-yo sitting in Jack Black's car while him an the band are listening to music while driving in his car. Speed Zone (Orion 1989) In this film, the Smothers Brothers play a pair race car drivers, and Tommy yo-yos in a couple of scenes. He does some neat loops out of a moving car in a scene toward the beginning of the film. The Philadelphia Story (MGM 1940) The Philadelphia has a seen where Dinah Lord (played by Virginia Weidler) Who is Tracy Lord's(played by Katharine Hepburn)is seen playing with a yo-yo in a scene toward the beginning of the film. Other notable Actors in this movie include, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze (New Line Cinema 1991) (New Line Cinema 1991) One of the turtles uses an oversized yo-yo (built by Brad Countryman for the film) to beat up some bad guys. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 (New Line Cinema 1993) While in Feudal Japan, Raphael gives a yo-yo to Yoshi, one of the kids. Toy Story 2 (Pixar Animation Studios 1999) Woody says to Buzz: "Oh, you should have seen it. There was a record player. And a yo-yo. Buzz, I was a yo-yo!" True Stories (Warner Bros. 1986) The climax of the film is a talent show, and two of the contestants (Edward Kwan and Otis Gray) do a yo-yo act. Wrongfully Accused (Morgan Creek Productions 1998) Ryan Harrison (Leslie Neilsen) is suspended by a wire (ala Mission Impossible) and things begin to fall from his pocket threatening to set the security system off. One of those things is a yo-yo, and he deftly executes a Brain Twister and Rock the Baby before replacing it safely. Zoolander (Paramount Pictures 2001) Steve Brown does all the yo-yo stunts in the movie except the computer generated yo-yo that saves the day at the end of the movie. Filmed shortly before the release of the original Freehand yo-yo, Steve used a prototype of an unreleased ball-bearing version of the Duncan Trans-AXtion yo-yo. Yo-yos in Video Games Block Breaker Deluxe (2008) (2008)The iPod platform game Block Breaker Deluxe gives out prizes as you play, one of the prizes is a yo-yo. Cool Spot (SNES) Sponsored by 7UP. Play as the red spot from the 7UP logo, and use a yo-yo to do several things throughout the game. While idling in the game, it throws it's yo-yo out of boredom. CRASH BANDICOOT WARPED (PS1) Crash whips out a big purple yo-yo if you let him stand there long enough. He can walk the dog, does a forward pass and around the world. Duncan Man Game You play as the Duncan Man who uses a yo-yo to defend himself from tops that Steve Brown and others throw. There were two versions of the game made. http://www.yo-yo.com Earthbound (SNES) A yo-yo is a possible weapon of the main character, Ness. He also has and uses one in Super Smash Brothers (N64), Super Smash Brothers Melee (Gamecube), and Super Smash Brothers Brawl (Wii). Frak A platform game on the BBC Micro, featuring a caveman explorer armed with a yo-yo. The Goonies 2 (NES) The main weapon you start with is a blue yo-yo. Guilty Gear series (Various systems) Bridget, one of the playable characters, first appearing in Guilty Gear XX, fights with two yo-yos. Yo-yo tricks are performed on some of the moves, including a star figure and Soloham. Rogue Galaxy (PS2) An action RPG created by Sony. One of the characters that joins the party, Jupis, uses an electrified yo-yo in one of his abilities. Runescape In the popular massive multi-player online game, a yo-yo was given out by Santa Claus as the 2004 holiday item. Tricks you can do with it include play-with (normal throw) , walk the dog, and loop. StarTropics (NES) An adventure game somewhat similar to The Legend of Zelda, you play a young star pitcher named Mike Jones, who was visiting his uncle Dr. Steve Jones on C-Island after receiving a letter from him, only to discover that he is actually missing. You meet a local chief who breaks the bad news to you and in effort to help on your search for your uncle, the chief gives you a special artifact; the Island Yo-Yo, one of many weapons in the game. Wario Ware: Touched (NDS) Under the toys section there is a yo-yo you can play with. Yo!Noid (NES) The Yo!Noid videogame was released sometime during the summer of 1990 by CapCom for the Nintendo Entertainment System.And you went through many levels fighting enemies with the Noids Magic yo-yo. Yo-yos in Comic Books Flaming Carrot On the cover of issue #13 of Flaming Carrot Comics, the title character is impressing several girls in bikinis by playing with a yo-yo. Madman The title hero can occasionally be seen with yo-yos. http://www.aaapop.com/images/covers/KitchenSink/MadmanOddityOdyssey1st.jpg The comic's author Mike Allred also produced two promotional yo-yos, a Madman logo Duncan Professional and a hand painted wood yo-yo. Punisher Yo-yo, a super-villian, made his first and last appearance in Issue #50. Yo-yos in Books Stop Time The novel Stop Time by Frank Conroy contains a chapter about the main character becomes obsessed with yo-yoing when he is a young boy. Joe Mitchell read the chapter on Yoyoradio. Super YoYo Super YoYo is also a manga about yoyos. Horton Hears a Who The Who, Jo-Jo, is playing with a yo-yo when the mayor of Who-Ville stops him and makes him yell "YOPP!" to save their world. External Link * Brazilian Yo-yo Association media page - includes magazines, newspapers and website appearances by Brazilian players